The TV Upfront Forecast; AOL's Video Strategy

With the springtime TV upfront season upon us, analysts predict a flatlining for broadcast ad investment. Thursday’s IAB annual report showed Internet advertising surpassed broadcast for the first time as TV competed with online video platforms such as YouTube and Yahoo. Television networks, however, are optimistic despite sharply declining viewership, and they argue that an improving economy will bolster the market. The WSJ has the story (subscription).

Distributed (Video) Scale

AOL video exec and 5min founder Ran Harnevo discusses his company's strategy and the evolution of video on the Web with TechCrunch. TechCrunch's Anthony Ha reports "that when it comes to video, [AOL] may have less name recognition because it’s taking [an] more 'open' approach, distributing its videos across a number of properties." To which Harnevo added, "Vimeo and YouTube are easier to grasp because it’s big, but it’s one product." Read and hear more.

Native Basics

The Guardian takes a look back to the 2011 presentation that got native trending, when venture capitalist Fred Wilson coined the term. Surprisingly, this presentation was not widely shared on social media. In his talk, Wilson spoke about the fragmented market of digital media and proposed unique monetization systems that are “native to the experience” of whichever digital landscape consumers use. Wilson’s main concern for native at the time was scale. Read on.

Proximity Marketing

McKinsey & Co. partner David Edelman discusses how mobile tracking technology will impact the offline retailer in an interview with eMarketer. In particular, Edelman addresses iBeacon (learn more), a proximity marketing technology similar to near field communication. In general, he admits, “It’s overwhelmingly complex for a retailer. There are the various technologies, but the complexity of creating programs, content and the rules to target, and the scale is still small in terms of customers who are actually registered for this.” Read more.

Marketing Trifecta

Writing for The Drum, MediaMath CRO Erich Wasserman explores the advertiser, agency and ad tech trifecta. Wasserman points to some agencies’ uneasy take on programmatic, but makes a case for automation, saying, “this is not a matter of ‘either…or’, but is instead a ‘yes…and’. Brands continue to leverage agency partners for their inimitable trading best practices, cutting-edge tools, and pooled media buying and data expertise. Agencies create new opportunities for brands with the use of programmatic technologies...” Read on.

$1.50 CPM

In a post on the Amazon Apps blog, Amazon is crowing about the mobile display eCPMs it’s delivering for developers courtesy of a new promotion. Alex Quilci of YouMail tells the blog, “The $1.50 CPM promotion is a 3x bump in eCPM by itself and we’re seeing much higher quality ads. We also expect the strong earnings to continue when the promotion ends.” Read more. This must make “premium” publishers’ eyes spin – only a $1.50 CPM? Mobile display yield is not like the good ol‘ PC-based display days.

Beef With Instagram

Instagram has yet to launch any publishing APIs, which makes it hard for brands to use the outlet for promotion. Manual posting means marketers can’t use third-party tools to leverage analytics and plan campaigns strategically. An Instagram spokesman responded, saying, “Our highest priority is to maintain the community experience on Instagram, while evaluating the tools and metrics that will help brands be successful on the platform – whether that's building through native interfaces or providing via API access.” Read more via AdAge.